Lent faith, lent hope, lent love

A woman bought an extravagant dress, and the husband asked why did it have to be so extravagant, She said 'the devil made me buy it', The husband asked, 'why didn’t you say get behind me Satan?', The woman said, 'I did and he said it looked good from that side too!’

All of us have faced temptation in our lives - sometimes no doubt we’ve given in and at other times we've resisted it. One of the great traditions of Lent is the idea of resisting something - something that we really like - it might be chocolate or it might be a glass of wine or lots of other things, but another tradition which has become increasingly popular is to take something up for Lent - perhaps to attend one of the Lent groups or reflections, perhaps to read a Christian book or spend more time reading the Bible or in prayer, or it may be helping others in some special way.

There are lots of ideas about Lent and whatever we do there is always the temptation to not do it ! Our readings today on this first Sunday in Lent are not surprisingly a little challenging - in the Old testament reading from Genesis (2:15-17;3:1-7) we are given the account of Eve in the Garden of Eden eating the forbidden fruit.

People often get very bogged down with the question of whether this is literal or not - but the answer to that is not as important as recognising the fact that we have turnedaway from God in some way in our lives. And because of that a great separation has been created between us and God, a separation that God has continually tried to close throughout history as he seeks to call his people back to him.

In the letter to the Romans (5:12-19) Paul introduces this contrast between Adam and Jesus - Adam, along with Eve had introduced sin in to the world, Jesus brought righteousness and life. It is a challenge from Paul to ask what side we want to be on - are we choosing righteousness and life or sin and death. The answer is surely clear.

And in this period of Lent we are called to examine ourselves a little more closely than usual and to consider what is right and what is wrong in our relationship with God. It is a challenge to us as individuals but also to us as a church.

And our gospel reading (Matt. 4:1-11) offers us a little snapshot of lots of things - but one of them is our own journey through Lent. Of course the period of Lent mirrors this timescale of 40 days that Jesus faced in the wilderness but it also mirrors some of the challenges we face in life - as individuals and as a church.

Firstly Jesus was led by the devil to command the stones to turn into bread. Jesus was desperately hungry having spent 40 days in the wilderness but he knew that giving in to the devil was giving up on God - he trusted and he resisted. As Christians it’s very easy to be drawn to the practical things - things that we know make sense in our eyes, but do we always question whether they make sense in God’s eyes ?


What Jesus was resisting in this temptation was the desires of the flesh - he was hungry and could get food, but he knew the food he needed was the bread of life. Itis a great lesson for the church today to trust, to pray and to rely on God for what we need, but it’s also a huge test of our faith. We are conditioned to try and live self sufficient lives - adverts on the TV will offer us all we need for a good life. People on news channels will tell us about good food to eat. We will be conditioned to think that people who are rich and successful are often the ones who are the most happy, but we know deep down that there is no truth in that.

What we need in our lives Jesus has provided - a relationship that changes us, a relationship that draws us closer to him irresistibly. There is nothing wrong with having money or a nice car or house or going on nice holidays, but there is something wrong in striving for these things ahead of anything else.

And what about the church ? How often do we materially seek to provide rather than call for God’s guidance ? I think one of the most dramatic accounts in the Bible is the calling of the disciple to replace Judas Iscariot. The choice was narrowed down to two people - JosephBarsabbas and Matthias - they were obviously happy with both candidates but the final choice they left to God trusting that, as they drew lots to decide, God would show them the right person.

We may laugh at the idea today, but what an example of faith and trust. Wouldn’t it be wonderful to be identified by our faith as individuals and as a church.

Then there was the second temptation for Jesus. Taken to the highest point of the Temple the devil goads Jesus into showing his power - throw yourself down and saveyourself ! Jesus could do it and immediately people would see his power and follow him - it was a chance of instant popularity, a chance to become a great attraction wherever he went.

But Jesus knew that wasn't the way to do things - he hadn't come to provide evidence of a showman who would draw people to him by his wonderful deeds. He had come to show the depth of love God has for each one of us. He came to offer an invitation into a relationship with him - a relationship based on on faith, hope and love.

And I wonder if the hope part of that saying isn’t fulfilled in this temptation most clearly. The easy win for Jesus was there - he could impress everyone with a great show of power, but Jesus didn’t need a great show of power - he offered hope for all who trusted in him - he offered the hope and confidence that we didn’t need great shows of power but we need to offer hope.

And as individuals as we encourage one another we offer hope, and as we live out a life of faith, we offer hope to people who watch us… We live out faith and we live out hope - not hiding them, but showing those qualities to all.

But what about as a church - i wonder if sometimes we are not a little bit too ready to show our power. I think we can do it all too innocently - perhaps in services whichare difficult for newcomers to understand or relate to, perhaps in the clothes we wear, perhaps in the traditions we sometimes uphold.

Before you get too worried, or some get too excited, I'm not saying these things are all wrong - but they may be if we are not showing Jesus to others - church is not a private club. The former Archbishop of Canterbury William Temple said many years ago now, ‘The church is the only organisation that exists for the benefit of its non-members’.

When we come to church we come to celebrate God’s love. We come to him in prayer and praise. We join together in fellowship, but we also come to be part of a family where far too many of the members haven’t joined us - sometimes we need to be ready to change in order to grow. We must never be about maintaining an institution or building - we are about sharing the gospel - a gospel of faith and hope and of course, love.

Moving on to the third temptation - this seemed the real clincher - ‘OK Jesus’ said the devil, ‘have a look at all the kingdoms of the world - you can have them all if you fall down and worship me’. It was the thing Jesus had come for - to draw every person in every nation back tohim…, but of course it wasn't the way.

By falling down and worshipping the devil Jesus would have lost immediately that bond of love between God and his people. By falling down and worshipping the devil he would have shown that he was taking an easy route into the hearts of his people. There would be no way back.

And that feeling of love sums up God’s mission and his very being - God is love. And we are called to be sharers of that love - people committed to loving others, whoever they are.

Jesus, in the temptations he faced, never once gave up on love - he never once gave up on us. He never once gave up on offering us those gifts of faith, hope and love - and he never once suggested that when we received those gifts we could sit back and celebrate. The gifts are there to be shared…

And God has not changed throughout history - the God of love still calls us to be his disciples today. He calls every one of us to be part of the incredible movement of love that he calls his church - his body on earth.

During the missionary Gladys Aylward’s harrowing journey out of war-torn Yang Chen in China during the Communist take-over, she faced one morning with no apparent hope of reaching safety. A 13-year old girl tried to comfort her by saying, "Don’t forget what you told us about Moses in the wilderness," to which GladysAylward replied, "Yes, my dear, but I am not Moses." The young girl replied, "Yes, but God is still God."

We talk of the wisdom of children ! God is still God - the God who created us, the God who sent his son to die and rise again for us, the God who offers us the strength and comfort of the Holy Spirit, the God who promises to be with us wherever we are, the God who loves us unconditionally, the God who loves us always.... That is God who is still God. Whoever more could we ever need ?

During this period of Lent may we seek to grow ever closer to him and to fully experience and know in our own lives that feeling that God is all we ever need. His power and his mercy and his love are sufficient always… And as we experience that incredible relationship with God, may we always seek to offer faith, hope and love to others. AMEN